Utah is a community of genuinely compassionate people. However, in our eagerness to do good in our communities and the world, we often don’t realize we are approaching problems from a limited perspective. This is a quintessential human tendency. Utah's libraries can play a pivotal role by exposing people to different perspectives and paradigms. We must be conscientious of the power of this role as we move our communities from a place of sympathy, which is essentially feeling bad for others from a distance, to empathy, which is a holistic understanding of the diverse perspectives surrounding complex societal problems.
In this session, we will:
- Examine the foundations of our personal world-views, including unconscious habits that perpetuate these paradigms,
- Discover practical empathy-building skills that can strengthen our teams of employees and volunteers,
- Cultivate an empathetic understanding of those we serve, including various groups who may feel marginalized in our communities,
- Uncover tools to spread a culture of empathy beyond the walls of our libraries.
